The Race for the ARAS.....

[muppet]

besides being a republican. the best reason to vote for martin is that hes a 'somebody'. whats the point of sending any of the rest of them anywhere? we might as well send a homeless wino or dustin the turkey. martin mcguiness demands/commands the attention of the worlds media now never mind as the president of ireland. remember when yeltsin wouldnt/couldnt get off the plane in  shannon to meet the irish president well had it been martin mcguiness he'd have got off.. thats the difference

You really are deluded. All reports suggest that Yeltsin was incapable of getting off the plane, regardless of who was there to greet him.

Also, regarding McGuinness being a 'somebody', our last two Presidents were hardly household names on the international stage before taking up office, yet were highly regarded and respected worldwide. So that argument holds no water.

i'd love to see the results of a survey abroad asking people to name any irish president. you wouldnt have that problem with marty

Brilliant.

First of all please point to where that has been a problem before for any country in the history of the planet. Secondly if foreigners need to know who our President is, show how it couldn't also be fixed by electing Daniel O'Donnell or Father Niall Horan?

[lawnseed]

cool come back spentseed.

And there was me thinking we'd discuss which countries "abroad" would be surveyed, which type of socio-economic-demograhic we should target etc etc etc

No matter what happens to Ireland, some things shall never change; it's a comforting thought really

at the moment the best results of such a survey would come from the recipients of the approx 200,000 irish emmigrants that have had to leave the country since around 2009. eg austrialia canada. outside of these countries i doubt very much that many people could name an irish president

[Maguire01]

your back. sad as ever.

Why is his back sad?

[muppet]

your back. sad as ever.

Why is his back sad?

Because foreigners are ignoring it.

[lawnseed]

besides being a republican. the best reason to vote for martin is that hes a 'somebody'. whats the point of sending any of the rest of them anywhere? we might as well send a homeless wino or dustin the turkey. martin mcguiness demands/commands the attention of the worlds media now never mind as the president of ireland. remember when yeltsin wouldnt/couldnt get off the plane in  shannon to meet the irish president well had it been martin mcguiness he'd have got off.. thats the difference

You really are deluded. All reports suggest that Yeltsin was incapable of getting off the plane, regardless of who was there to greet him.

Also, regarding McGuinness being a 'somebody', our last two Presidents were hardly household names on the international stage before taking up office, yet were highly regarded and respected worldwide. So that argument holds no water.

i'd love to see the results of a survey abroad asking people to name any irish president. you wouldnt have that problem with marty

Brilliant.

First of all please point to where that has been a problem before for any country in the history of the planet. Secondly if foreigners need to know who our President is, show how it couldn't also be fixed by electing Daniel O'Donnell or Father Niall Horan?

or jedward

[lawnseed]

your back. sad as ever.

Why is his back sad?

hes got a stoop

sorry couldnt resist. the point being that ireland is on its knees the election of martin mc guinness soldier (terrorist if you like for the sake of making a point) turned peace maker and then president sends out a very positive message throughout the world that ireland has moved on. (ala mandela) his arrival in the likes of america would spark huge media interest bringing alive the dream of a new ireland moving forward together as equals. this type of media attention is necessary to highlight the need in ireland for foreign investment. this is a great opportunity for our country to project a positive image abroad given all that the irish people have been through eg clerical abuse, financial ruin etc.. coupled to the idea that martin will only take the average ind.wage 
it is easy to diss this posibility but i believe it is the way forward for this country as a whole

[Maguire01]

besides being a republican. the best reason to vote for martin is that hes a 'somebody'. whats the point of sending any of the rest of them anywhere? we might as well send a homeless wino or dustin the turkey. martin mcguiness demands/commands the attention of the worlds media now never mind as the president of ireland. remember when yeltsin wouldnt/couldnt get off the plane in  shannon to meet the irish president well had it been martin mcguiness he'd have got off.. thats the difference

You really are deluded. All reports suggest that Yeltsin was incapable of getting off the plane, regardless of who was there to greet him.

Also, regarding McGuinness being a 'somebody', our last two Presidents were hardly household names on the international stage before taking up office, yet were highly regarded and respected worldwide. So that argument holds no water.

i'd love to see the results of a survey abroad asking people to name any irish president. you wouldnt have that problem with marty

Yes, because that is of critical importance.

Just out of interest, how many foreign heads of state could you name (without checking Google)? Germany? China? Argentina? Spain? Japan? Brazil? India?
No, I didn't think so.

[gallsman]

besides being a republican. the best reason to vote for martin is that hes a 'somebody'. whats the point of sending any of the rest of them anywhere? we might as well send a homeless wino or dustin the turkey. martin mcguiness demands/commands the attention of the worlds media now never mind as the president of ireland. remember when yeltsin wouldnt/couldnt get off the plane in  shannon to meet the irish president well had it been martin mcguiness he'd have got off.. thats the difference

You really are deluded. All reports suggest that Yeltsin was incapable of getting off the plane, regardless of who was there to greet him.

Also, regarding McGuinness being a 'somebody', our last two Presidents were hardly household names on the international stage before taking up office, yet were highly regarded and respected worldwide. So that argument holds no water.

i'd love to see the results of a survey abroad asking people to name any irish president. you wouldnt have that problem with marty

Yes, because that is of critical importance.

Just out of interest, how many foreign heads of state could you name (without checking Google)? Germany? China? Argentina? Spain? Japan? Brazil? India?
No, I didn't think so.

The results of a survey taken abroad where people are asked "Who is Martin McGuinness" might devastate some of the usual suspects on this board. We have a puffed up sense of our own place in the world.

[ardal]

cool come back spentseed.

And there was me thinking we'd discuss which countries "abroad" would be surveyed, which type of socio-economic-demograhic we should target etc etc etc

No matter what happens to Ireland, some things shall never change; it's a comforting thought really

at the moment the best results of such a survey would come from the recipients of the approx 200,000 irish emmigrants that have had to leave the country since around 2009. eg austrialia canada. outside of these countries i doubt very much that many people could name an irish president

Ok ok, you win. Irish immigration started in 2009, thus your fantastically accurate figure of 200, 000. Sorry, ignore the influence of the Diaspora on certain countries and the statistical link below

http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/population/2011/popmig_2011.pdf

oopps, can you add on the figures in the link

[muppet]

I seriously think he is O'Neill.

[ardal]

Me thinks you mightn't be far wrong

[Tony Baloney]

your back. sad as ever.

Why is his back sad?

hes got a stoop

sorry couldnt resist. the point being that ireland is on its knees the election of martin mc guinness soldier (terrorist if you like for the sake of making a point) turned peace maker and then president sends out a very positive message throughout the world that ireland has moved on. (ala mandela) his arrival in the likes of america would spark huge media interest bringing alive the dream of a new ireland moving forward together as equals. this type of media attention is necessary to highlight the need in ireland for foreign investment. this is a great opportunity for our country to project a positive image abroad given all that the irish people have been through eg clerical abuse, financial ruin etc.. coupled to the idea that martin will only take the average ind.wage 
it is easy to diss this posibility but i believe it is the way forward for this country as a whole

Stop it, you're killing me! And not in a good way.

[lawnseed]

besides being a republican. the best reason to vote for martin is that hes a 'somebody'. whats the point of sending any of the rest of them anywhere? we might as well send a homeless wino or dustin the turkey. martin mcguiness demands/commands the attention of the worlds media now never mind as the president of ireland. remember when yeltsin wouldnt/couldnt get off the plane in  shannon to meet the irish president well had it been martin mcguiness he'd have got off.. thats the difference

You really are deluded. All reports suggest that Yeltsin was incapable of getting off the plane, regardless of who was there to greet him.

Also, regarding McGuinness being a 'somebody', our last two Presidents were hardly household names on the international stage before taking up office, yet were highly regarded and respected worldwide. So that argument holds no water.

i'd love to see the results of a survey abroad asking people to name any irish president. you wouldnt have that problem with marty

Yes, because that is of critical importance.

Just out of interest, how many foreign heads of state could you name (without checking Google)? Germany? China? Argentina? Spain? Japan? Brazil? India?
No, I didn't think so.

The results of a survey taken abroad where people are asked "Who is Martin McGuinness" might devastate some of the usual suspects on this board. We have a puffed up sense of our own place in the world.

yeah people said stuff like that about bobby sands and yet there are streets named after him in cities all over the world eg barcelona

[gallsman]

besides being a republican. the best reason to vote for martin is that hes a 'somebody'. whats the point of sending any of the rest of them anywhere? we might as well send a homeless wino or dustin the turkey. martin mcguiness demands/commands the attention of the worlds media now never mind as the president of ireland. remember when yeltsin wouldnt/couldnt get off the plane in  shannon to meet the irish president well had it been martin mcguiness he'd have got off.. thats the difference

You really are deluded. All reports suggest that Yeltsin was incapable of getting off the plane, regardless of who was there to greet him.

Also, regarding McGuinness being a 'somebody', our last two Presidents were hardly household names on the international stage before taking up office, yet were highly regarded and respected worldwide. So that argument holds no water.

i'd love to see the results of a survey abroad asking people to name any irish president. you wouldnt have that problem with marty

Yes, because that is of critical importance.

Just out of interest, how many foreign heads of state could you name (without checking Google)? Germany? China? Argentina? Spain? Japan? Brazil? India?
No, I didn't think so.

The results of a survey taken abroad where people are asked "Who is Martin McGuinness" might devastate some of the usual suspects on this board. We have a puffed up sense of our own place in the world.

yeah people said stuff like that about bobby sands and yet there are streets named after him in cities all over the world eg barcelona

Thanks for the lesson. I wonder how many had heard of him before the hunger strikes. Care to hazard a guess?

[Maguire01]

cool come back spentseed.

And there was me thinking we'd discuss which countries "abroad" would be surveyed, which type of socio-economic-demograhic we should target etc etc etc

No matter what happens to Ireland, some things shall never change; it's a comforting thought really

at the moment the best results of such a survey would come from the recipients of the approx 200,000 irish emmigrants that have had to leave the country since around 2009. eg austrialia canada. outside of these countries i doubt very much that many people could name an irish president

Ok ok, you win. Irish immigration started in 2009, thus your fantastically accurate figure of 200, 000. Sorry, ignore the influence of the Diaspora on certain countries and the statistical link below

http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/population/2011/popmig_2011.pdf

oopps, can you add on the figures in the link

lawnseed doesn't do accuracy (In fact he doesn't even do reality).

He's prone to pulling figures out of the air and presenting them as fact - like the 9:1 'civilian to military' casualty ratio in Afghanistan he came out with the other day.